


Making of a Champion

by LittleWatty



Category: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-21
Updated: 2011-03-21
Packaged: 2018-11-06 14:33:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11038146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleWatty/pseuds/LittleWatty
Summary: An old work I recently tracked down. It's unfinished, but was supposed to be the early back story for my main Oblivion OC, Raqel(ia) Vanpiir.Wrote this in high school, so a lot of young writing tropes apply. I like to think my writing and characterization has since improved. I don't particularly like it (this was back when I thought "rape" was an acceptable excuse for character development, this is no longer the case and I do not write such things anymore), but posting it here will make it so I can track it down in the future if necessary.





	1. Chapter 1

Raqel sat back in here chair, smirking as the potential crew members for the new Brotherhood ship stood to be assessed like cattle by the Listener. They were squirming, and she loved it. She never had a love for pirates or sailors, they were all filthy. After a short discussion with one of them about his deity being Sithis, Alani dismissed them and had another round brought in. Looking them over, Raqel flinched when her eyes settled on a Redguard in the middle. She stood from her seat, slowly walking up to see his face better. “Do I… know you?” Instantly after she soke, the man’s face came into light and she froze.

 

“Speaker?” Alani noticed her falter. “Raqel? What’s the matter? Do you know this man?”

 

“You fetching bastard!” she cried out, lunging for the sailor. He backed up right into Lucien’s arms. Had Jhared not caught his fellow Speaker’s arms, she would have torn his throat out with her teeth.

 

“Raqel! What is the problem with this man!” Alani was out of her saet in an instant.

 

“Say the word, Speaker…” Lucien held a blade into his back, just along the spine, should it be needed.

 

“He’s mine!” Raqel pulled against Jhared’s grip, but was held fast. Though, it was difficult. “I will feed your entrails to the slaughterfish for what you did!”

 

“Speaker! Contain yourself!” Repaer shouted at her, stepping between the ranging Imperial and her target. “Shamar, what did you do the Speaker? You have five seconds to answer me before I let her have you!”

 

“I don’t know who this woman is, I swaer!” he answered with a thick Hammerfell accent.

 

Images of the day passed through her mind. “Don’t deny it, bastard! I’d know your fetching face anywhere! You…” Raqel bit off her words before she said too much. There were reasons no one knew. She couldn’t tell them, not unless she had to.

 

"Answer the !#@&% question, Shamar!" Reaper was clearly angry now, drawing her blade and pointing it in his face. 

"I don't know her! I swear on my life and that of my family! I do not know!" The sailor had sweat dripping down his brow, getting into his eyes, but he couldn't wipe it away because of Lucien's grip. 

"The face of the child is not so different from the adult." Alani took an inhale of breath, believing she knew what Raqel meant with her last statement. 

Shamar stammered clearly, his face going pale as he looked around the cabin. "I... I... don't know w-what you're... talking about!" 

She could see it in his eyes and smell it in the air. He knew exactly what she meant. "Of course you do." 

"You will speak, man, or you will be unable to." Alani needed to know if what she was thinking was right. If so, there was no punishment harsh enough. 

"Open your !#@&% mouth or I will torture it out of you." Reaper gave him one of her looks, the kind that no one outside the Brotherhood saw twice. "And everyone who knows me well knows that not only do I enjoy that, but I'm !#@&% good at it." 

Shamar looked to the other sailors for help, but he would find none. "Don't even think about it," Raqel hissed. "You know now what you did to me. You remember when I nearly killed you that time. I will not make the same mistake of letting you get away again." 

Reaper decided to give him even more shame for whatever action he took. "Shamar, what did you do to the Countess of Skingrad?" 

When he didn't reply instantaneous, Alani moved closer with her blade. "Speak, dog." 

His eyes widened evermore as he spoke. "I, em... She wasn't the Countess at the time, and I'm fairly certain she wasn't a S-speaker either... I... She..." The Redugard's voice faded into nothing as he lost his words. 

Raqel slackened in Jhared's grip, surprising him a bit, and hung her head. This wasn't how she wanted it to come out. If anything, she would have rather kept it to herself, but it was obvious now that would not happen. "Its clear to me he will not say what he did. He doesn't have the words. I... This is not something easy for me to admit. I have never told a soul, and I still blame myself for it happening." She turned her eyes back to meet Shamar's bloodlust glinting in them. "He raped me when I was a mere thirteen years old." Her heart sank as she spoke, but at the same time she felt a weight release itself from her shoulders. 

Lucien carried the man by his neck and slammed into the wall, muttering curses. "You sad creature..." 

Reaper snapped, wrenching him from her Speaker's grip. "!#@&%!" She slammed his down on the table, bones cracking as she pinned him. "Raqel, kill the !#@&%-tard, before I choke him to death." 

"It... I..." Shamar stammered as he tried to explain himself. "Look at her!" He motioned for her face, one that had been adorable, but tired, as a child. The same slim body she had, but with more bulk now with decades of swordplay behind her. 

Raqel shouted out a long string of utterly profane curses, pulling against Jhared until she nearly broke free. "Let me inhume this damned p'tah right here, right now! Its been far too long since I've seen his face!" 

"He is hers to deal with, Jhared," Alani ordered her son, and he let her go. 

Shamar was released from Reaper's grip, only to be snatched up by Raqel and pinned to the wall by Umbra. She had drove it through his gut and into the walls of the cabin, impaling the Redguard and anything that was on the other side of the wall. "Just die already." She pressed down on his shoulders, disemboweling him until the blade stopped on his breastbone. Muttering another string of curses, Raqel left the room with her hands only slightly bloodied by her resurfaced past. 

"Viki, would you follow to see she is alright?" she heard Alani ask as she slammed the door shut. "Thank you. Jhared, dear, can you remove the .....waste from my cabin? Thank you." 

Despite hearing the short Dunmer following her, Raqel didn't stop. She needed to get away, far far away, from that man's corpse. "I am sorry, Sister," Viki said as she caught up. "I think you handled that remarkably well. I..I don't think I could have faced the man that assaulted me a second time. Well done, dearest." 

She turned and slumped against the wall, dragging her back across the wood as she dropped to the ground. She still wasn't sure all that had actually just happened. "I... I never told a soul that... and now..." 

Vicente and Shivani appeared out of nowhere, probably having heard the ruckus or scented the blood in the air. "Sister, what is the matter? Your scent is pained." Raqel looked up at Shivani with tears brimming her eyes, but said nothing and shook her head. 

"Would you be kind enough to give us a minute...I'm sure Alani can fill you in." Viki looked from the two back to the Speaker with a sorrow expression. 

"No, no... I want to be the one to tell them." Raqel looked down at the blood on her hands, clenching her fists tightly. "Both of them have been with me through all my troubles up until now, why keep them out of this one" She lifted her eyes back up to them, slowly working out what she was going to say in her head. In the end, that didn't matter. "You probably both smell the blood... and Shivani knows how I feel at the moment. There was a Redguard sailor among Captain Dres' suggested crew. He... I recognized him as the man who raped me when I was thirteen." She shook her head as her tears spilled over and started going down her cheeks. "I never told anyone that because I felt so weak. I have always been self reliant, even when my parents still lived, but that... It was too much for me to handle, having only been on my own for less than a year. To this day I blame myself for being that weak. No one knew, not even Janus, until today. Now... everyone knows..." With everything out now, Raqel didn't bother to stop the sobs that came in waves. Vicente quickly knelt beside her, pulling her into a protective embrace that had long been alien to the Speaker, but she now found that she needed it. 

"You were not weak, Speaker. You were a child. That is a horrible thing to do to anyone, let alone a child. I do hope that Sithis torments him in the Void for eternity." 

Shivani got to her knees beside Raqel as well, nuzzling her cheek. "My sweet sister. Your family is here, and no one is going to think you weak or less." She leaned into Vicente's shoulder, nodding weakly in response. 

Then, down the stairs, came Janus, quite surprised by the site of his wife crying in Vicente's arms with Shivani and Viki beside her. "R...aqel? By Akatosh, what's happened!" He sprinted to her side immediately, lightly lifting her face with his finger to look her in the eyes. "My dear, sweet Raqel, what's distressed you this way?" She didn't speak but instead started sobbing again and reached her arms out to wrap them around his neck. He was exactly what she needed right now. A familiar body to hold close, even though he didn't yet know her pain. Janus held her close, brushing her hair down with his hands. "Its alright. I'm right here, its alright." He looked up at Vicente, a questioning look on his face. 

"Janus, your wife needs you now: more than ever," was all Vicente said as he helped Shivani and Viki to their feet, ushering them back into the chambers. 

"Thank you, all three of you," he said to them, turning his attention back to his suffering wife. He comforted her as long as he needed, whispering sweet nothings in her ears, until she finally quieted down and the tears stopped. Often times when she was broken down to the point of sobbing in his arms she was so exhausted she would fall asleep, but this time she did not. Raqel was awake in his arms when the tears stopped, and she clung to his clothes with everything she could. "Please, my sweet, what has done this to you?" 

"There was... a man... Oh, Janus!" She buried her face in the crook of his arm, but held back her tears. "There's a lot I need to tell you that I haven't. That I never told anyone until today." 

"I'm all ears, my love." Raqel looked up at him with sad, but understanding eyes. She didn't need to keep anything from him now. She couldn't. And so, she told him everything.


	2. Chapter 2

"Swing left... Good! Now... Parry!" The little Imperial brought her stick up to block her father's blow, giggling when she fell back. Lucret grinned, his blue eyes shining, as he helped her to her feet. His beautiful little daughter, tough as any of the boys. Even younger still, his son was showing great potential. 

Lucret's life was a simple one. He and his wife, Cania, traveled between the cities as a scholar and consultant for the various Counts and Countesses. They had a home, hidden away in the Colovian Highlands, where they could settle down for the occasional break between trips. It was closest to Kvatch, but was not far from Skingrad. It was small, just large enough for the parents and their two children, not even old enough to take care of themselves. Lucret's father had scolded him when he bought the house, saying they were too far from the roads. "Bandits will get you all!" he had repeated so many times before he died in his sleep one day. He didn't want to listen. Cania, with the ever so slight amount of Redguard blood in her, wanted to be in the wilds. How could he resist his wife? She had her... ways of persuading him. However, he still held that fear in the back of his mind. That fueled his speedy teaching of his children. If something were to happen to him or Cania, dread the thought, they had to be able to handle things themselves. His sweet, dear, daughter had always been self reliant, even as a small child. That accented and sped her teachings. 

"Again?" she asked, his same blue eyes he had glinting in the light. With a grin, Lucret tossed her the stick they were using for a mock blade. She would use one some day, but not yet. Not until she was older. 

"Swing right... dodge..." he called out commands, throwing weak attacks in her direction. It was the first step in her conditioning. They practiced every day for an hour, and she was quickly increasing her speed and skill. "Strike! Good!" Feinting right, Lucret caught her off guard and picked her up in his arms, swinging around in circles. "That's enough for one day." 

"Aww, please?" Her enthusiasm was invigorating. 

"Raqelia, dear, listen to your father," Cania called. "Kelbius, stop that!" The little boy with liquid aqua eyes, only a shade darker than his mothers, had pulled out a not so grown carrot and ran off with it. She chased him around for a moment before catching him in a fit of giggles. "Alright you two, lets get something to eat." Raqelia and Lucret exchanged glances, racing for the door to the house. 

"I beat you! I beat you!" she shouted in glee when she reached the stoop a half second before her father. 

"You did, my little angel." He brushed a hand through her hair, opening the door for his family to enter. 

It was burning. All of it was burning. Why was this happening? Why had the Nine left them so alone? They needed help but there was no one there! 

"Help your mother with the dishes, Raqelia," Lucret called down from the loft, bailing up hay for the horse. 

"But daddy, I want to help!" 

"I've got things up handled out here. Your mother needs you inside." He grunted, tossing down a large bale. 

"Please?" 

"Go help your mother." 

_ Familiar faces dead in the dirt. A young Dunmer girl in a cage. Bodies, everywhere. They were all dead. All of them. What was going to happen? She had to get away! _

"Daddy, there's someone at the door," little Kelbius called up the stairs. He sighed, intending to take the night off with his wife. They had just gotten back from Skingrad the other day, and hadn't had much time for just them. Cania kissed his strong jaw line and dismissed him. 

"Go see who it is. I'll be waiting for you." She smiled coyly, gaining a smirk from him in return. Lucret slipped a tunic over his broad shoulders, opening the door to see Kelbius staring up at him. 

"Who is it?" He shrugged, running back off downstairs to where his sister was. 

_ Dead... Dead... all of them... dead... She... killed them all... _

The stranger faced away from the door, but a long blade was clearly belted at the waist. "Can I help you?" Lucret asked, opening the wood door just a hair to see better. The man drew his blade and swung it back in one fluid motion, faster than he could react. Kelbius wailed when he saw his father fall back and hit the wall, clutching a deep gash in his chest. "Raq...qelia! Get your brother," he grunted, jumping out of the way of another strike from the stranger and slamming him into the door in counter, "and Mother, and leave! Get out of here!" Gathering up Kelbius in her arms, she obeyed. 

_ There was a man. He was coming for her. The face. He was the one... He... _

Lucret had managed to get the stranger outside, locking the door behind him, but he had allies. They were breaking the windows with axes and blades, trying to break their way in. They had surrounded the house, preventing any exits. Cania held Kelbius to her chest while Raqel stood by the door with her Father. "Go sit down with your mother and brother," he told her many times, but she always shook her head. Lucret held a real blade, his father's blade, but Raqelia just had the stick she practiced with. It would do nothing for her now. "Raqelia. Sit. Down." She had never heard him so strict. Tense, and more than frightened, she retreated back to the corner of the room. 

Cania shrieked when a flaming liquor bottle came flying through the window. It exploded on impact, sending shards of glass every which way and igniting the bedding. Raqelia was hit in the shoulder, falling to the floor with a strangled cry. Kelbius was at her side, pushing her to move, but the pain was worse than any she had experienced. Lucret was there in an instant, picking her up in his arms. The blood that stained his chest from the first intruder was clouded over by his daughter's. "We have to get out of here. Move!" Crying, Cania ushered Kelbius out of the flaming room. 

_ The Dunmer girl tried to talk to her, but she didn't understand anything. It was all jumbled words and cries. The man was back. The girl shut up. He would yell at them if they talked. Beat them. _

Lucret cut down one of the attackers when they exited the burning house. He would defend his family to his dying breath! The entire house was in flames now, everything he had worked for, gone! The nearby stable, a pile of ashes on the ground, the horse's neck was cut before it could run. The dog they usually depended on for warning, an arrow in one ear, out the other. Whoever had attacked them had been watching for some time. 

An arrow flew through the air, catching him in the shoulder. The tip penetrated his flesh, even advancing far enough to hit Raqelia's arm that had been resting up against it. She cried out, pulling away from him, but he held her close. He needed to keep them all together to make sure they were all safe! "Cania, this way!" he yelled, motioning to an outcropping of trees. They'd be safe in there, at least for a moment. They never made it. 

Lucret fell to the dirt, Raqelia flying from his arms. Cania screamed, seeing the series of arrows in his back. Setting Kelbius on his feet, she sprinted for her husband, but was promptly hit in the center of the chest with another round of poisoned barbs. She gasped on the floor, clutching her chest as her breaths came in shorter and shorter until they stopped all together. Kelbius cried out to the three of them, shaking each of them individually, calling their names. The strangers were coming, and he shook them harder. "Daddy! Mommy! Ra'el!" He soon realized that his parents weren't breathing, and sat back with a loud sob. When Raqelia opened her eyes, the only thing she noticed were the lifeless eyes of her parents in the dirt. "I wanna go home!" Kelbius cried, noticing his sister's movement. Trying to sit up, she winced with a tear as the pain in her shoulder became too much. The strangers came up, pulling down the masks that covered their faces to reveal their Redguard heritage. The two of them tried to scramble away, but were caught by the nape of their necks and thrown over the shoulders of the two burliest bandits. They muttered a few words that Raqelia didn't catch in her quickly slipping consciousness. Kelbius called her name again, but it was lost as she slipped into the black. 


	3. Chapter 3

Raqelia flickered in and out of consciousness, occasionally seeing the faces of her captors, but more often seeing the rusted bars of an animal cage. Her entire body ached, particularly her shoulder. As she moved about, in her varying levels of consciousness, she could feel the blood cracking. She wanted to wake up, but at the same time, something told her to stay asleep. That she'd be better off not opening her eyes. 

"F'lah..." a little voice kept interrupting her. "...nye s'laf..." She thrashed, trying to swat away whoever was trying to wake her up. "F'lah," the voice repeated. 

"G'way" she mumbled, burying her face in what felt like straw underneath her. 

"Her mahn th' beh' s'laf!" the voice was urgent, but before Raqelia could open her eyes, whatever construct she was in started to shake violently. She tried to stand up, but her head hit a metal surface and she fell back to the ground. Thick laughter echoed in her ears as she clutched the sore spot on the top of her head. 

"L'kit dis 'un!" a heavily accented voice yelled, making the young Imperial's headache worse. "Sh's a 'oot!" The cage shook again, slamming her into all sides of the metal bars. She wailed and shouted, using words her parents told her not to. "Oh! Sh's gat a t'ng on 'er tew!" Even if her head wasn't pounding as it was, she doubted she could understand exactly what they were saying with the type of accent they had. 

"Leave 'er alone, Domas! Y'no what Raccan'll do t'ya!" said another, not so accented voice. The one who had been shaking the cage stopped, muttering a few words in an odd language. "He'll be lookin' fer us, le's j'st go." 

"B't I'm not dun yat," he said with a smirk. The door to her cage opened and the man reached in to grab her. In a frantic state, Raqelia bit into his hand until she tasted blood. Her grip was strong enough that when he pulled his hand back, she went with it. Letting go and acting quickly, she grabbed the sword at his waist from its sheath and cut into him. The Redguard's insides spilled over the ground out of the deep gash in his gut, splattering her face in blood. Standing wide eyed and in shock, Raqelia watched his body fall before she noticed the others coming for her. They grabbed her, struggling to get her back in the cage, but she fought back and sliced at anyone she could. Another fell before the largest of the group managed to throw her back in and lock the door again. Her head landed heavy on the straw bedding of the cage as the lock clicked. He muttered a few words that sounded like curses before spitting on the ground in front of her cage and stalking out. Shaking and scared, Raqelia glanced over at the little Dunmer girl in the cage beside her. 

"F'lah her be' antre" she spoke quietly. 

"What?" Raqelia had no idea what the young girl was saying. 

"F'lah her be' antre" she repeated. Raqelia just shrugged, pointing to her ears, and shrugging again. "Ae... are ye... you..." she paused, thinking for a moment. "Okee?" 

"Am I okay?" The Dunmer nodded. "I... think so." "Who are you?" It was the little Dunmer girl's turn to look confused. Thinking, the Imperial pointed to her chest and said "Raqelia" then pointed at the Dunmer. 

Not quite understanding what she was saying, the other girl pointed to herself and said "Rakelya?" 

Raqelia shook her head, pointing at herself and saying "Imperial, Raqelia," then pointed at her and said "Dunmer," while waiting for a reply. 

The idea seemed to click, and she pointed to herself and said "Devanin." 

"Dyv-a-n-yn," she struggled to pronounce, the Dunmer shaking her head. "Deva-anyn," she tried again, but again the Dunmer shook her head no. "Devan...nin" Devanin clapped her hands, nodding her head with a large grin on her face. 

"Rakelya," she tried to say, pointing at the Imperial. She shook her head, saying her name again. "Rakelia," Devanin tried again. She thought it was close, and shrugged before nodding. They continued this way, learning a little bit about the other before their captors came back through the door. The bandits, Raqelia assumed they were, shouted a few words in a foreign language before opening the doors to their cages and beating them. She assumed they were only so cruel because of what she did... it was all her fault. 

"Sh'tup!" the larger of the group shouted, slamming the door behind him, when they came in another time and caught them talking. "Charon, y'get th' ashb'rn. Th' buy'rs'll be happy t'get 'er in gud shape, s' dun't tear 'er arms off dis time!" Devanin screamed and grabbed onto the metals bars for dear life, but in the end there was no hope. Her fingers unlaced from their holds, and she was slung over the shoulder of a broad Redguard before they left the room. The large one who issued the orders knelt at Raqelia's cage, looking her over with an inquisitive glance. "Dun't worry, young'n, y'll get yers soon 'nough." She spit in his face, backing up as far as she could. "Dis 'uns got a bit o'fire to 'er! Dats gud. Yu'll sell gud." He kicked the cage, following his comrades out. 

Raqelia sat back in her cage and shook. She was alone now... all alone…


	4. Chapter 4

Raqelia stayed in her cage, not saying a word to anyone, after Devanin had been taken. She couldn't trust anyone else, and she wasn't even sure if she could trust herself. So much time passed as she sat there in the cage. It could have been weeks, months, or even years since she'd been captured, and her parents killed. She didn't even know if Kelbius still lived, or if he had been sold. There was no one there to keep her company, she was completely on her own. Each day she tied a piece of her grass bedding to the iron bars imprisoning her, but occasionally she forgot or one of her captors tore them off. By the end of her time there, she had 84 grass ties on at once. 

A few of her captors tried to get at her, to do unspeakable things, she knew, but she always fought back. Kicks, jabs, swats, anything. It deterred most of them, but not all of them. 

_ She was getting away. This was her chance! It was the only chance she had, or would have... She had to take it! _

"C'mun, sweet," one of them kissed at her. "J'st a taste. Yu'll like eet." 

"Get away from me, you filthy p'tah!" she shouted. No one could say she didn't learn a few things from Devanin. 

The redguard balked, but only slightly. "Heh, yeu've got'a tongue on yea." He rattled her cage, bouncing her around inside. Raqelia snarled at him, kicking her feet at his hands, but he moved them just in time. "Dun't b'like dat. I'll show yea a gud time." 

"Tralin! Git aw'y from da merchandise. Brokin dun't git us an' profit." 

"Aw, just shuddup, Charon. Sh's mine." He went to open the cage, but a knife at his throat made him stop, a pale hand on the hilt. "Oh, uh... Hey der Raccan." His voice was quivering. 

"Get away from the girl," the man said in a perfect Cyrodiilic accent. "I don't want to cover her in your blood." The man backed away, still obstructing her view of "Reccan." When they were far enough away, the knife slid across his throat in a series of gurgling noises. The man holding the knife stood there, looking down at the corpse and shaking his head. He was a redguard, like the others, but at the same time he wasn't. His skin was too light, and he wasn't nearly as broad. And he had... green eyes? When he looked up at her again, she was sure. He had the strangest green eyes. 

_ The place was too large, she didn't like it. Too many people, too many noises. She found a quiet spot by the water. There was another guy there, he was nice enough, but she didn't want to trust him. _

She didn't know who Reccan was, or why he had saved her as he did, but she wanted to thank him. If it wasn't for him being involved with those who killed her parents, she might have actually done it. The chance was never presented to her, however, even if she was going to. "Git d' pack'g redy!" one of the redguards shouted, belting a longsword and a few knives. He gave her a wicked glance, causing her to shiver. "Th' Dunmer w's bad, s' he's takin th' oder one." Most of her captors had learned not to reach into the cage, especially after the first incident where she gutted two of them. Instead, they stood around her cage before opening the door, and tipping the whole thing up so she would slide down to the ground whether she wanted out or not. Seeing this as a possible chance to escape, she obeyed their every word, walking where they wanted her to. If they, or someone else, was taking her out of here, she would have a chance. She had to have a chance. 

They carted her up and out of the cave system they lived in, just like she had hoped. On the surface, there was an Almter standing there, a few body guards of various races by his side. "This one better be worth it. I nearly killed the last one for what she did." 

"Yeu'll be fine wit' dis un. Sh's gud." Her chance was getting closer. She just needed to wait... 

"Come here girl. I have some jobs that need finishing, and you're going to finish them for me." The one redguard holding her nudged her forward with his knee, and she started towards the man that would be her master. However, before she got halfway, she turned in another direction and sprinted out of the camp. Having forgot what it felt like to run free, her legs cramped up a bit, but as she kept pushing they loosened up and soon she was running as though she had been every day of her life. A spell, she assumed from the Altmer, hit her in the back and she fell face first into the dirt. Sod stuck to her teeth as she laid there, unable to move. He had paralyzed her! Raqelia did everything she could to fight against the spell, making it wear off before anyone was able to reach her. Getting back to her feet, she ran towards the closest cluster of trees she could find. Anything that could be used to lose them. 

_ There was a ship docked. She didn't want to bother the people, but she needed the money, and new comers were always the best targets. She would have to at least try. _

The Altmer's guards were hot on her tail when she first broke into the trees. She needed to outsmart them, or out run them, but she wasn't sure if she could do either. Luck would be on her side, as she noticed a ravine down the center of the small thicket. Putting more force into her feet, she jumped down despite not knowing how deep it could have been. The walls were not tall, but it was enough of a drop so strain her knees when she landed. Rolling when she hit the ground, Raqelia frantically looked around for any sort of hiding place. At the far end there was a hole in the rock siding, and she only hoped that it was large enough for her to fit, but small enough to avoid notice. Before the Altmer's guards got too close, she ran for her only hope of escaping and ducked inside, tucking herself into the smallest position possible and pinning herself against the wall. The hole was fairly small, but opened up into an only slightly larger compartment. It was enough for her to hide out of sight and, hopefully, out of notice. 

She held her breath and tried so hard to stop from shaking when she saw the guards and a few of her captors running up and down the ravine looking for her. One of them found her hole and looked inside, making her tense up. She recognized it as the same one who saved her before, Reccan. He glanced around the entire cavity, and she could have sworn that he noticed her, but he didn't make any sort of noticeable mention to her presence and... left. 

Night fell before they gave up their search. Raqel was quite surprised that her growling stomach didn't give her away. When they finally did leave, she crawled out of the cavern and fell to the ground. She started crying as she lay there, but they were tears of joy. She was lucky, she managed to get away from them. Whether it be the will of the Gods, or whatever else, she was free. 

_ He was sweating, and she was disgusted. How could it have happened? How? HOW! But he wasn't done, and she still couldn't move. _

Raqelia had believed they had taken her far from her home, and far from Cyrodiil. In truth, they were on the Hammerfell boarder, not far from Anvil. She only realized this after three days of staggering through the woods, starving and exhausted. The only good part about her journey was she didn't cross her captors, or the Altmer that tried to buy her. 

She didn't stay in Anvil long, only giving herself time to pick a few pockets and buy a loaf of bread with her stolen money. The Inn keeper she bought it from cursed at her, and told her beggars weren't welcome, but quickly shut up when she handed him the coin. Sitting in the center of town, she contemplated what he had said. She was a beggar? She guessed that she was. More of a thief than a beggar, but they weren't too far apart. 

A covered cart and wagon showed up in town, delivering some supplies to the local shops and taverns. Raqelia overheard the driver saying he was on his way back to the Imperial City to restock his cart for the next rounds. She saw another chance to get away, and when he wasn't looking, climbed inside. The boxes provided ample hiding places, and the driver never found her. 

_ Her whole body ached, nothing felt good. She was dirty, disgusting, filthy. Her parents would be horrified if they were alive to have heard what happened. She curled up in a ball and cried. It was all she could do. _

She didn't like the Imperial City. It was too big for her, too many people with too many different conversations going on at once. The headache she got was intense. Wandering through the streets, she found herself walking along the shoreline. It was quiet here, and she was content to stay. There was a man there, not looking too much better than she, begging for change. He looked about ten years older than she was, at least, but it was hard to tell with how grubby he was. She heard some of the people curse him by the name "Ancus" and assumed that's who he was. 

He seemed nice enough, but she didn't let herself get too close to him. There was no telling what he would do if he got the chance to do anything. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Never finished this work. This is as far as it got.


End file.
